Lent by the Shanghai Museum, these wine vessels—a pair of pear-shaped containers and a unique four-legged vessel in the form of a fantastic buffalo—exemplify the artistic sophistication and technical virtuosity of the Houma foundry, a major center of bronze casting in the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–256 b.c.). The bronzes are accompanied by two ceramic mold fragments, illustrating how the bronzes' intricate surface décor was achieved, and by a small number of related bronzes from the Metropolitan's collection.
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